The objectives of the study are to assess the fiscal sustainability and development impacts of Ghana’s fiscal rule for allocating petroleum revenues to the annual budget against alternative fiscal rules - the permanent income and the bird-in-hand rules. Fiscal sustainability is measured by government long-term fiscal space in proportion to non-oil GDP, whilst development impacts are measured through a dynamic CGE model of Ghana. Generally, the study makes four important findings on how fiscal policy triggered by the inflow of new petroleum revenues could affect the long-term fiscal sustainability and growth of the economy. One, Ghana’s fiscal rule is neither fiscally sustainable nor provide higher impacts of petroleum revenues on economic development relative to the permanent income and the bird-in-hand rules. Two, fiscal sustainability does not necessarily lead to greater development outcomes. The bird-in-hand rule is the most fiscally sustainable, but the permanent income rule provides higher development outcomes and can move Ghana’s transformation towards a full middle income status. Three, institutional quality in a country could lead to efficiency gains in government spending. Four, efficiency in government spending could improve on development outcomes. Ghana could therefore benefit from its petroleum revenues by adopting the permanent income rule; and with temporary petroleum revenues, the focus of the country should be on current investment of petroleum revenues in building the country’s asset base to support short-term and long-term growth of the economy. However, this should be complemented with strengthening the quality of institutional arrangements to enhance efficiency in government spending.

O propósito deste trabalho é examinar a recolocação e a transformação da questão da harmonia entre linguagem, pensamento e realidade na segunda fase da produção filosófica de Wittgenstein. A fim de cumprir esse propósito, discutem-se, no primeiro capítulo, a formulação dessa questão na fase inicial de sua reflexão, que culmina no Tractatus logico-philosophicus, e sua vinculação com as concepções de filosofia e método apresentadas nesse livro. Em seguida, discutem-se as modificações de tais concepções a partir do início da década de 1930 e a necessidade de reformulação da questão examinada. No segundo e terceiro capítulos, comentam-se as duas principais facetas que ela assume na segunda fase da produção de Wittgenstein: 1. o exame de alguns trechos dos manuscritos do chamado período intermediário e das seções 428-465 das Investigações filosóficas revelam sua vinculação com a noção de intencionalidade e noções correlatas; 2. o exame dos textos dedicados à noção de seguir regras, sobretudo as seções 185-242 das Investigações, permite reconsiderar as relações entre as regras e a prática de sua aplicação. Esse percurso visa mostrar, por um lado, que, mesmo depois do abandono do projeto do Tractatus, Wittgenstein ainda considera filosoficamente legítima a questão da harmonia entre linguagem, pensamento e realidade, desde que posta em outros termos; e, por outro lado, que as relações entre nossas formas de representação e a realidade são mais complexas do que pensara. / The aim of this work is to examine the replacement and transformation of the question of the harmony between language, thought and reality in the second phase of Wittgensteins philosophical production. In order to fulfill this aim we discuss in the first chapter the formulation of the question in the initial phase of his reflections, which culminates in the Tractatus logico-philosophicus, and its connection with the conceptions of philosophy and method presented in the book. Then, we discuss the modifications in these conceptions since the beginning of the 1930s and the necessity of reformulating the question we approach. In the second and third chapters we comment on the two main sides of the question in the second phase of Wittgensteins production: 1. the examination of some passages of the manuscripts of the so-called middle period and of the §§428-465 of the Philosophical Investigations reveal its connection with the notion of intentionality and correlated notions; 2. the examination of the texts dedicated to the notion of following a rule, mainly the §§185-242 of the Philosophical Investigations, allows to reconsider the relations between the rules and the application practices. This path is intended to show, on the one hand, that even after the abandonment of the Tractarian project, Wittgenstein still considers the question of the harmony between language, thought and reality as a legitimate philosophical question, provided that it is put in other terms; and, on the other hand, that the relations between our forms of representation and reality are more complex than he once thought.

Dentre as técnicas de mineração de dados encontra-se a associação, a qual identifica todas as associações intrínsecas contidas na base de dados. Entretanto, essa característica, vantajosa por um lado, faz com que um grande número de padrões seja gerado, sendo que muito deles, mesmo sendo estatisticamente aceitos, são triviais, falsos, ou irrelevantes à aplicação. Além disso, a técnica de associação tradicional gera padrões compostos apenas por itens contidos na base de dados, o que leva à extração, em geral, de um conhecimento muito específico. Essa especificidade dificulta a obtenção de uma visão geral do domínio pelos usuários finais, que visam a utilização/exploração de conhecimentos úteis e compreensíveis. Assim, o pós-processamento das regras descobertas se torna um importante tópico, uma vez que há a necessidade de se validar as regras obtidas. Diante do exposto, este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem de pós-processamento de regras de associação que utiliza conhecimento de domínio, expresso via taxonomias, para obter um conjunto de regras de associação generalizadas compacto e representativo. Além disso, a fim de avaliar a representatividade de padrões generalizados, é apresentado também neste trabalho um estudo referente à utilização de medidas de interesse objetivas quando aplicadas a regras de associação generalizadas. Nesse estudo, a semântica da generalização é levada em consideração, já que cada uma delas fornece uma visão distinta do domínio. Como resultados desta tese, foi possível observar que: um conjunto de regras de associação pode ser compactado na presença de um conjunto de taxonomias; para cada uma das semânticas de generalização existe um conjunto de medidas mais apropriado para ser utilizado na avaliação de regras generalizadas / The association technique, one of the data mining techniques, identifies all the intrinsic associations in database. This characteristic, which can be advantageous on the one hand, generates a large number of patterns. Many of these patterns, even statistically accepted, are trivial, spurious, or irrelevant to the application. In addition, the association technique generates patterns composed only by items in database, which in general implies a very specific knowledge. This specificity makes it difficult to obtain a general view of the domain by the final users, who aims the utilization/exploration of useful and comprehensible knowledge . Thus, the post-processing of the discovered rules becomes an important topic, since it is necessary to validate the obtained rules. In this context, this work presents an approach for post-processing association rules that uses domain knowledge, expressed by taxonomies, to obtain a reduced and representative generalized association rule set. In addition, in order to evaluate the representativeness of generalized patterns, a study referent to the use of objective interest measures when applied to generalized association rules is presented. In this study, the generalization semantics is considered, since each semantic provides a distinct view of the domain. As results of this thesis, it was possible to observe that: an association rule set can be compacted with a taxonomy set; for each generalization semantic there is a measure set that is more appropriate to be used in the generalized rules evaluation

The aim of this diploma thesis is to explore the term mediation, its principles and its process. Another aim is a comparison of selected mediation rules and last but not least assessing the quality of the implementation of Directive 2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters into the legal order of the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. The content of the first chapter is focused on mediation and its place among the alternative dispute resolution methods. The thesis engages in the meaning of this term, its historical grounds, principles, the fundamental classification of mediation approaches, the evaluation of its advantages and disadvantages as well as the analysis of phases of the mediation process. The second chapter deals with the institutionalized mediation. After analyzing this term, the advantages and disadvantages of this approach are explained. The main part of this chapter is the examination and the comparison of the most important provisions of mediation rules of prestigious, Europe-based international institutions such as ICC, VIAC and WIPO as well as the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules, which are applicable for ad hoc mediation. The third chapter is dedicated to the legal framework of mediation at...

As refinarias de petróleo utilizam grandes quantidades de água em seus processos e por isso são impelidas a desenvolver fortes programas de redução de seu consumo. O objetivo do presente estudo é a aplicação de metodologia de otimização em problemas de alocação ótima e reuso de água em refinaria de petróleo. Diferentemente dos enfoques tradicionais que buscam tratar os efluentes gerados para atender às legislações ambientais ou para algum tipo de reuso na planta, a metodologia utilizada avalia os processos que usam água, questionando as causas da geração do efluente. Essa abordagem envolve o levantamento de dados industriais, análise dos processos de produção, identificação de oportunidades para aplicar as estratégias de otimização da alocação de água: racionalização, reuso e/ou reciclagem do efluente e, em seguida, a otimização da rede de água. Visando obter uma rede de água que seja aplicável na indústria, desenvolveu-se um procedimento específico baseado em regras heurísticas que representam as restrições reais dos processos. Através deste procedimento, o consumo de água fresca atingido é próximo do valor ótimo encontrado na literatura. As redes de água geradas são simples, com poucas interconexões e, consequentemente, os investimentos necessários para implementação são menores. / Oil refineries consume a large amount of water in their processes and because of that they are urged to develop strong programs to reduce their water consumption. The aim of this study is to apply an water optimization methodology in an oil refinery. Unlike traditional approaches that only search for treating the effluents in order to meet environmental legislation or to reuse in the plant, this methodology evaluates the processes that use water, questioning the causes of the wastewater generation. This approach involves the industrial data collection, analysis of production processes, identification of opportunities to optimize water use: rationalization, reuse and/or recycling of the effluent and, lastly, the water network optimization. Looking for a water network that is applicable in the industry, in this study it was also developed a specific optimization procedure based on heuristic rules representing the constraints of the actual processes. Through this procedure, freshwater consumption was found to be close to that of the theories found in the literature. The water networks generated are simple, with few interconnections and, consequently, the investments required to implement them are small.

Este trabalho procura destacar o desenvolvimento urbano de São Paulo, levantando as principais normas e eventos - além dos mecanismos de financiamento das infraestruturas - que condicionaram a formação da metrópole. O início da regulação urbanística do município ocorre no final do período imperial, quando são introduzidas as primeiras normas e políticas de segregação da pobreza. A partir de então a cidade se estrutura mediante arranjo institucional que relaciona norma e finança, como os institutos de aposentadorias, o sistema BNH, sem, no entanto, obedecer um planejamento específico. Somente no governo militar, em 1975, o Estado divulga a elaboração de um documento para direcionar desenvolvimento das cidades, cujo abandono poucos anos após sua publicação ampliou a precarização da cidade, aliada à crise econômica na década de 1980. A reforma normativa da Constituição de 1988 revigora o orçamento municipal e estabelece regras para as políticas urbanas, mas o avanço concomitante do neoliberalismo traz forças que entrecruzam as leis nacionais e municipais e durante toda a década de 1990 são reduzidos os investimentos públicos em desenvolvimento, habitação e urbanização. Somente em 2003, com a criação do Ministério das Cidades, a política urbana se estrutura em bases territoriais articuladas, pensando o espaço público das metrópoles a partir dos instrumentos ativos de cidadania, articulando os entes federados e a principal instituição financeira pública do país, a Caixa Econômica Federal. Para colocar em relevo tais propostas, será analisado o programa de urbanização de favelas em São Paulo, no sentido de realizar uma interpretação dessa interlocução, procurando entender em que medida os projetos de desenvolvimento urbano podem agir para recuperar os traços de cidadania perdidos nas normas, planos e projetos. / This work seeks to highlight the urban development of São Paulo, emphasizing the main rules and events, in addition to infrastructure financing mechanisms that conditioned the formation of the metropolis. The joint between urban regulation and political rules starts at the end of the imperial period, when was introduced the firsts acts of segregation of poverty. Since then, the city has been structured by institutional arrangements relating rules and finance, such as embedded on the institutes of retirements and the BNH system, regardless of any specific planning whatsoever. During the military government, in 1975, the state discloses a document to guide the urban development, whose abandonment few years after its publication increased casualization of the city, coupled with the economic crises in the 1980s. The regulatory reform of the 1988 Constitution strengthens the municipal budget and establishes new rules for urban policy, but with the advance of neoliberal ideas comes forces that intersect national and local laws throughout the 1990s. On these bases, the government reduces public investment in development, housing and urbanization. Nevertheless, in 2003, through the Ministry of Cities, urban policy tends to be articulated on territorial bases, considering the public space of the metropolis from the instruments of active citizenship, articulating the federated entities and the main public financial institution in the country, the Caixa Economica Federal. It is important to highlight such proposals, using the slum upgrading program in São Paulo, in order to conduct an analysis of this dialogue, trying to understand the extent to which urban development may take action, in order to recover the lost traces of citizenship standards, plans and projects.

This exploratory cross-sectional study examined the relationship between implicit family process rules and adolescent prosocial and antisocial communication behaviors. Data came from two-parent families in wave 5 of the Flourishing Families project which consisted of 322 families (fathers, mothers and children ages 13-17). Both observational and questionnaire data were used in data collection. Prosocial and antisocial behaviors were assessed using observational codes from the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales (Melby, et al., 1998). Each of the family members' perceptions were used to assess constraining family rules and facilitative family rules. Findings showed a direct positive relationship between facilitative family process rules and pro-social communication and a negative relationship with antisocial communication. Constraining family process rules were also positively related to antisocial communication behaviors in adolescents. Shame was a significant mediator of the relationship between facilitative family rules and prosocial behavior as well as between constraining family rules and antisocial behavior. Implications for family therapy practice are discussed.

ABSTRACT For the past five years, I have been a Division I Women’s Basketball player under the National Collegiate Athletic Association. I have played at two different schools, I have spoken to numerous investigators and lawyers, and I am now on my third set of college basketball coaches. Most athletes that enter college have one set of four-five coaches during their four-five-year period, I have had thirteen. College basketball has presented countless challenges for me mentally and psychically. For a while I thought that the adversity that I was facing as a young woman playing a high level of athletics was considered normal, but now that I have grown, reflected, and sought out opinions of professionals I know that my experience wasn’t a “normal” one. Throughout my time as an NCAA athlete I have been home to the harsh routine that so many young student-athletes struggle to get through. In this paper, I am reflecting upon my experience as a college athlete and college sports as I know it. The NCAA is one of the most corrupt corporations in our modern-day world. Despite its claims that ensure success of student-athletes, the NCAA treats athletes not developing human beings, but as objects that contribute to their dirty multi-million-dollar franchise. At the end of the day, they NCAA is a business that operates around making money around student-athlete’s identity and runs in a way that doesn’t benefit student-athletes. Throughout my paper I will be discussing the rules of the NCAA and how they play out in reality, as well as how they can be improved. I am also writing this paper to have a conversation about how hard it is to be a college athlete in general, many people have a false perception of the life we live, and I want to clear some things up. The NCAA doesn’t take the mental health of athletes seriously. There are plenty of opportunities to improve the way the NCAA treats its athletes, while still profiting from the goldmine they make off of amateurism. The NCAA doesn’t put student athletes in a position to take full advantage of their scholarship, let alone gives them a chance at being a healthy, functioning, young adult. I will be telling personal stories that relate to bigger topics and issues within the NCAA, as well as how I think they can be improved for the well-being of college athletes. This paper is my story, this paper is a personal account of the power of resilience.

Men’s underrepresentation in the female-dominated domains of healthcare, early education, and the domestic sphere, or HEED roles, remains a persistent problem despite the fact that such careers often afford more job security and wage growth than blue-collar work. A growing body of evidence suggests that their lack of participation in HEED roles is not merely due to a skills mismatch, but rather an identity mismatch. I hypothesized that using descriptive and injunctive norms to reframe a stereotypically feminine career as more compatible with manhood could effectively reduce this identity mismatch. More specifically, I predicted that using a dynamic descriptive norm framing that highlighted the growing number of men taking on a female-dominated career and an injunctive norm framing that highlighted its compatibility with men’s gender rules would increase men’s interest in the occupation. Furthermore, I believed that such framings would be particularly effective among men who are highly communal and those who do not strongly endorse traditional male role norms. To test my predictions, 342 men took part in an online study in which they were assigned to read a newspaper article about a HEED role, nursing, that was designed to manipulate the perceived prevalence of male nurses and the job’s compatibility with male gender rules. Then, they completed a variety of measures designed to assess their interest in and perceptions of nursing and other HEED careers. Minimal support was found for my hypotheses, and I discuss limitations and future directions to shed light on these null results.

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